I found out more info about the new bk1 – honto combined site… the new online store will ship outside of Japan, but only to customers who previously ordered from bk1. Apparently they are not accepting new international customers. Wow, that’s a bit surprising. I hope that will change in the future and they will open it up to new customers, and not the other way where they eventually stop shipping overseas completely. Will keep a lookout for any updates.

Kiss Yori mo Hayaku is ending in the August issue of LaLa, out on June 24. Tanaka-sensei tweeted about it the other day.

Received the Japanese raws for Aoharaido – Chapter 17… squee! lol. And yes, the gender of Kou’s friend is ambiguous… Kou refers to that person as his classmate (doukyuusei) and that person (soitsu and aitsu). Soitsu and aitsu are very informal terms and Kou did say that he and that person got pretty close after spending time at the hospital together (the person’s father was in the hospital during the same time as Kou’s mother). Hopefully we find out soon if Kou’s friend is a girl or boy… Sakisaka-sensei doesn’t normally keep us in suspense for too long. If the friend is a girl, then I can see the manga going on for awhile… Strobe Edge was 10 volumes and Aoharaido volume 4 just came out in April. Maybe Kou and Futaba will finally go together to that festival as a couple on their third attempt… that will be at least another 10-11 months of angst, lol. On a side note, I’m starting to like Touma-kun more… he’s so aware of his feelings for Futaba, unlike Kou who’s unsure and not very honest.